Trump Sends Strong Warning To Terrorists As US Grieves With 9/11 Survivors

9/12/2017 8:42 AM ET

In a speech commemorating the 16th anniversary of the deadly 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Donald Trump gave a strong warning to terrorist outfits that target the United States.

"The terrorists who attacked the United States thought they could incite fear and weaken the spirit of the nation. But America cannot be intimidated, and those who try will soon join the long list of vanquished enemies who dared to test our mettle," Trump said at the 9/11 Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon Monday.

When the United States came under attack on September 11, 2001, Americans turned their sorrow "into an unstoppable resolve to achieve justice" in the names of the fallen, he told a gathering of more than 300 family members of the victims of the attacks targeting Pentagon.

Among the 184 people who were killed at the Pentagon were young enlisted service members, civil servants and veterans.

Trump and first lady Melania observed a solemn moment of silence at 9:37 am, the time when an American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the Pentagon's west side 16 years ago.

The Commander-in-chief paid tribute to those who boarded American Airlines Flight 77 at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Trump also paid tribute to nearly 7,000 service members who gave their lives fighting terrorists around the globe since 9/11.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis joined the First Couple at the DoD ceremony.

Earlier, Trump appeared at the White House for a commemoration.

Thousands gathered nationwide to mark the deadliest attack on US soil, in which 2,977 people died after hijackers crashed planes into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a rural Pennsylvania field.

Hundreds of people gathered Monday morning in lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood. Two beams of light shot into the sky in place of the Towers to mark the attacks.

The names of the nearly 3,000 people who perished were read aloud at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum as bells rang out in their memory.